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How Much of The Internet is WordPress?

How Much of The Internet is WordPress?

If you’ve spent a reasonable amount of time on the internet then I’m 99.99% sure that you know or have heard of WordPress. In fact, I’d be more shocked if you haven’t come across a website that hasn’t been powered by WordPress.

Given how popular WordPress is as a CMS (content management system), it’s no surprise that they would have accumulated a whole bunch of statistics and data that are pretty amazing.

So, we decided to scour the internet and compile some stats about WordPress and any other interesting WordPress usage statistics in this big list. Plus, if you’re a content creator, you can even use some of these data to create infographics, articles, or any other cool content.

Here are some of the notable WordPress statistics.

Interesting WordPress Statistics and Facts

1. WordPress Powers 43% of the Internet

The chart shows the percentages of websites using various cms and their market share.
The chart shows the percentages of websites using various CMS and their market share.

The internet is a vast space. There are millions upon millions of websites – be it business blogs or personal websites. A whopping two-fifths (or 43% to be exact) of those are made and powered by WordPress. That basically means that 2 in every 5 websites is bound to be a WordPress website, which goes to show the popularity of WordPress.

* The grey bar shows the percentage of the entire Internet, and the green bar shows the percentage of CMS market shares

2. WordPress Websites Increased by 3.5%

It’s astonishing that WordPress powers 43% of the Internet, but what’s even more astonishing is that it was due to an increase in usage by about 3.5% (compared with 2021). The dominance of WordPress amidst stiff competition among CMS brands is a testament to WordPress's popularity!

Also read – How to create a blog using WordPress.

3. WordPress Holds 64.3% of the Content Management System Share

To continue highlighting WordPress’ dominance in the CMS industry, these WordPress usage statistics show that currently, WordPress is holding about 64.3% of the content management system share (the chart above). That’s a considerable gap over all of the other CMS platforms combined!

4. WordPress is Used by Big Name Websites

VentureBeat is one of many websites that is powered by WordPress. Credit: VentureBeat.com.
VentureBeat is one of many websites that is powered by WordPress. Credit: VentureBeat.com.

WordPress as a CMS platform is very powerful and is capable of creating and handling any kind of website. It still amazes me how many websites use WordPress as their CMS of choice and some of those big sites include Quartz, Techcrunch(!), Facebook Newsroom, BBC America, Venturebeat, and more.

Also read – The curious case of Managed WordPress Hosting

5. WordPress.com Boasts a Similarweb Global Website Ranking of 141

Similarweb
WordPress.com is the top source

Similarweb is an analytics platform that tracks website traffic and performance. WordPress.com is the only CMS company that ranks 141 under their Global Rank category.

6. WordPress Has Been Downloaded a lot of Times

We know that WordPress has powered a lot of websites since its inception. WordPress 6.0, released in May 2022, is the latest version. For less than three months, the version was downloaded 55,972,508 times – a count that's still increasing!

7. There are over 77 Million Active Gutenberg Installations

Here's the Gutenberg interface, you can give it a try.
Here's the Gutenberg interface, you can give it a try.

Since Gutenberg was released, there have been over 77 million active installations of Gutenberg. Over 276 million posts were written with Gutenberg and with 281,000+ posts were produced daily. The stats are reported specifically from blog posts created using Gutenberg and sites running on Jetpack.

Also read – Popular platforms to build websites and apps

8. WordPress Produces Over 70 Million Posts and 77 Million Comments Every Month

The highest amount of posts on WordPress was over 70,000,000. Credit: WordPress.com
The highest amount of posts on WordPress was over 70,000,000.

A crazy number to think about is the amount of content/comments produced on WordPress every month. This WordPress site stat shows that there are 70 million new posts and 77 million new comments every month. That amounts to more than 27 new posts and 198 new comments every second!

9. WordPress Peaked at 100 For Google Trends

Google Trend

To give you an idea of how massively popular WordPress is compared to its competitors, they were the only CMS platform that managed to reach 100 (the peak popularity) on Google Trends. Other platforms such as Drupal, Blogger, Shopify, and Wix barely even managed to reach 50.

10. WordPress Only Has About 2,038 Employees

Despite being a huge corporation that powers about a quarter of the internet, the number of employees at WordPress has topped up at about 2,038 people only. That’s significantly smaller than a lot of the other tech companies.

11. They are Many Times Smaller Than Other Tech Companies

We know that comparing Apple and Amazon to WordPress is like comparing apples to oranges, but the fact is, all of them are tech companies. And, despite being 40 times smaller than Apple and 540 times smaller than Amazon, WordPress still stands strong.

12. There Are Over 59,000 WordPress Plugins Available

Plugins are a great tool to help website owners add-in features and functions without the need for coding. When it comes to plugins, WordPress is still the king as they offer 59,693 plugins in their library, which easily dwarfs all the other competitors.

13. Three WordPress Themes are Used on Over 30,000 of The Most Popular Websites

Divi, Astra Theme, and Hello Elementor are three of WordPress's most used themes.
Divi, Astra Theme, and Hello Elementor are three of WordPress's most used themes. Credit: BuiltWith.

Divi, Astra Theme, and Hello Elementor are WordPress’ most popular themes and each has been used by over 13,816 websites, 11,051 websites, and 7,904 websites respectively. That’s a total of 3.29% of the top 1 million sites using the same themes!

Find different WordPress themes here, here, and here.

14. Akismet Caught Over 500 Billion Spam Comments on WordPress

The amount of spam comments blocked by Akismet and the number is still counting.
The number of spam comments blocked by Akismet and the number is still counting.

Given how popular WordPress is and how many websites use WordPress, it’s just a matter of time before a blog or a website gets spam comments. And wouldn’t you know it, Akismet showed that over 500 billion spam comments have been caught on WordPress. That’s like a million spam comments every few minutes! The WordPress statistic itself received substantial feedback on Twitter as well.

15. Yoast SEO Has Been Downloaded 451 Million Times

With the vast library of plugins that WordPress offers, there are bound to be a few that stands out among the rest. That plugin is Yoast SEO, which is a tool you can use to help with search engine optimization. Currently, Yoast SEO boasts a download number of 451,421,171.

Also read – Yoast SEO vs Rank Math SEO Plugin.

16. Akismet Is The Second Most Popular Plugin With 254 Million Downloads

We’ve talked about Akismet a bit before and how they managed to catch over 500 billion spam comments. Well, you can add being the second most popular plugin to that list as they currently have 254,901,128 downloads at WordPress.

17. WordPress Popular Plugins Each Have over 5 Million Active Installations

WordPress offers some of the best plugins available on the market. Plugins such as Contact Form 7, Yoast SEO, Akismet, Jetpack, and more are of the top WordPress plugins that boast some of the biggest active installation bases of about +5 million based on the WordPress usage stats.

18. WordPress Most Popular Theme Sold Over 820,000 Copies

Avada is the best-selling theme on WordPress with over 820,000 copies
Avada is the best-selling theme on WordPress, with over 820,000 copies. Credit: ThemeForest.

Avada, the WordPress theme from Themeforest, is one of the most popular paid themes on the platform. At $69, the theme managed to sell over 820,000 copies which generated over $56 million in sales and counting.

19. WooCommerce Powers 28% of Online Stores With Over 50 Million Downloads

When you think of WordPress, odds are you’ll think of blogs. However, WordPress is such a flexible platform, you can even create an online store using plugins. WooCommerce is one such plugin, and they currently power 28% of the online stores in WordPress with 51,563,803 downloads.

20. WooCommerce is Currently The Most Popular eCommerce Technology On WordPress

WooCommerce take up 26% of the top 1 million eCommerce website.
WooCommerce takes up 26% of the top 1 million eCommerce website.

Speaking of WooCommerce, did you know that WooCommerce is also one of the most popular eCommerce technology today? Out of 1 million eCommerce sites, WooCommerce stands at the top by powering over 26,000 of the top 1 million websites today.

21. Over 300,000 of The Top 1 Million Websites Uses WordPress

WordPress is undoubtedly a popular platform for a lot of websites. Based on these numbers by BuiltWith, 287,563 of the top 1 million websites currently uses WordPress as their main CMS platform. If you break down the WordPress stats of the top 100,000 websites, WordPress still powers 29,895 of them. Go even further down to the 10,000 websites, and at least 2,911 of them use WordPress. This shows just how much of the Internet is WordPress.

22. Out of The Entire Internet, Over 30 Million Websites Use WordPress

When you look at the entire internet scanned by BuiltWith, WordPress owns most of the share as it is currently used by 36,208,211 websites. That basically accounts for more than 43% of the internet!

23. Over 100,000 DMCA Takedown Notices Have Been Issued

The number of DMCA takedown notices received by WordPress.com since 2014.
The number of DMCA takedown notices have been Issued by WordPress.com since 2014.

Given how many websites use WordPress, there are bound to be a few that violates the company’s Intellectual Property agreement. Since January 2014, at least 100,907 takedown notices have been issued by WordPress with some or all of the content ending up being removed on 29.09% of the websites.

24. 95.62% of Infected Websites in 2021 Uses WordPress

More than 95% of infected websites come from WordPress users
More than 95% of infected websites come from WordPress users.

Since WordPress is the most used CMS platform on the internet, it makes them more likely to get attacked and infected by hackers and viruses. Sucuri’s recent hacked website report shows that out of their client-based infected websites, 95.62% of them use WordPress.

Vulnerabilities in the WordPress core came to light in 2019 when it was discovered that malware was being injected by skimmers. The same malware also affected Magento users and allowed hackers to steal credit card information from the systems involved. We advise everyone to scan their sites regularly for Malware like this.

Also Read – WordPress security tips for the layman

25. 48% of Hacked WordPress Sites Was Due To Outdated Installations

WordPress offers a ton of security, and they continually update its platform to ensure that users are protected from potential threats. However, 48% of the WordPress sites that got hacked were due to outdated platform installations. So, always remember to update your installations if you want to be safe!

26. There are Currently 29,133 Vulnerabilities in WordPress

The three main vulnerabilities that WordPress suffers are from the platform, plugins, and themes.
The three main vulnerabilities that WordPress suffers are from the platform, plugins, and themes.

WPScan reported on the vulnerabilities that WordPress suffers as a CMS platform. Out of the 29,133 vulnerabilities, 6,810 of them are unique, and the breakdown for the vulnerabilities types is 585 (3%) due to outdated versions, 99,091 (91% ) due to plugins, and 24,422 (6%) due to themes.

27. Cross-site Scripting (XSS) Accounted for Over Half of Plugin Vulnerabilities

Cross-site scripting (XSS) is a type of computer security vulnerability typically found in web applications. Research by WPScan and Wordfence shows that over half of plugin vulnerabilities come from XXS such as SQLI, Upload, CSRF, RCE, FPD, etc.

One extra thing to take note of from the research is that password-based attacks against WordPress are on the rise.

28. WordPress Developers Can Make Anywhere Between $10 to $300 Per Hour

WordPress has created several new jobs for web developers and coders familiar with the system. These WordPress developers usually make around $10 to $300 per hour based on the stats from UpWork.

29. The General Rate For A WordPress Developer is $10 – $30 Per Hour

Hiring a WordPress developer is relatively affordable for the most part. Based on UpWork, the freelance website, the general rate for hiring a WordPress developer to work on your website is roughly $10 to $30 per hour.

Also Read – Best work from home jobs to make money online.

30. The Average Salary For WordPress Jobs is $70,533

A WordPress employer will earn roughly $70,000 per year
A WordPress employer will earn roughly $70,000 per year. Credit: SimplyHired.

If you’re thinking of working for WordPress, you can expect a decent salary. Simply Hired researched the average salaries for jobs at WordPress and narrowed it down to about $70,533.

31. There Are a Total of 344,750 Jobs Related To WordPress

Freelancer.com is a website where you can hire freelancers to work on projects/one-off assignments. When you search for jobs related to WordPress, you’ll see that there have been about 514,867 jobs posted (both open and closed) on the website.

32. WordPress Would Have Cost About 230 Person-Years

With an average salary of $70,000 per year, the estimated cost to build a WordPress platform is $16 million
With an average salary of $70,000 per year, the estimated cost to build a WordPress platform is $16 million

According to Open Hub’s Project Cost Calculator, WordPress took an estimated effort of over 230 person-years. This is based on 849,783 lines of code, with an estimated cost of over $16 million to fund a project of this size.

33. WordPress Only Takes 5 Minutes To Install

WordPress is known for being a platform that simple and easy to use. Using WordPress is so intuitive, with the help of one-click auto-installers, you can install the whole platform in just 5 minutes! That definitely makes it one of the faster to install.

34. WordPress Only Recommends 3 Web Hosts

You can use any web host provider if you want to use WordPress, However, there are only 3 web hosts that WordPress recommends on its official website. Those 3 are Bluehost, Dreamhost, and SiteGround.

Also Read – Our list of best cheap web hosting deals.

35. The WordPress JetPack Plugin Has Over 287 Million Downloads

The JetPack plugin by WordPress is a popular tool for accomplishing various tasks such as traffic insight, social media integration, backups, and security. It’s one of WordPress's most popular free plugins, with over 287 million downloads so far.

36. WordPress JetPack Plugin Recorded Over 20 Billion Page Views

JetPack and Wordpress managed to record over 2 billion views on its platform.
JetPack and WordPress managed to record over 20 billion views on its platform.

WordPress.com recorded the number of page views that were accumulated on blogs that were hosted on their site and were using the Jetpack plugin. The highest pageview numbers they got? 27,995,317,475 back in Apr 2020.

37. WordPress Has Over 205 Official Translations

Since WordPress has an international audience, it needed to be translated into several different languages. So far, there have been over 205 official translations of WordPress, with 35 locales being 100% translated and 33 locales with more than 95% translated.

38. Over 120 Languages Are Used in WordPress

WordPress is a global platform, which means they need to cater to an international audience that reads and speaks different languages.

As of today, WordPress is supported in over 120 languages with English being the most used at 71% followed by Spanish and Indonesian by 4.7% and 2.4% respectively.

39. There Are 1112 Wordcamps in 377 Cities Across The Globe

WordCamp has held over 1112 WordPress meetings across the world.
WordCamp has held over 1112 WordPress meetings across the world.

WordCamp is a WordPress workshop/conference that focuses on topics and issues regarding WordPress. Currently, there are 1112 WordCamps happening in over 377 cities around the world, with sessions such as advanced WordPress techniques, beginner plugins, and more taking place.

40. The First WordCamp Started Back in 2006

Matt Mullenweg organized the first WordCamp back in 2006 in San Francisco. Back then, the event was much smaller and ran only for one day. Despite being a small event for users and developers, they had about 500 hundred people attending the conference.

41. WordPress Is Responsible For 25 Popular Products

While WordPress is mainly known for being a CMS platform, they are also responsible for 25 popular products/services that are available online. Some include Gravatar, PollDaddy, WooCommerce, Akismet, and more.

42. WordPress Made About $742,227 in Revenue in 2020

WordPress is quite transparent with its financials. The 2020 financial report showed that the company made $742,227 in revenue. The report shows WordPress revenues from two different streams, the WordPress Foundation and the WordPress Community Support, PBC.

43. WordPress is Launching Openverse

WordPress Openverse
WordPress Openverse

WordPress has recently announced that they’ll be launching a new project – Openverse in late 2021. Openverse, previously knowns as CC search, is a search engine for openly licensed media. All media files in Openverse can be used for free.

Wrapping Up

WordPress is an excellent CMS, and over the years, they have achieved numerous milestones and successes that continue to wow us. We hope that all the statistics we presented show WordPress in a different light to you and they have helped millions upon millions of users get their website journey started.

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Article by Jason Chow

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